For this online lesson, our focus was on R&D, which stands for research and development. This was useful because soon we would be starting our fantasy brief, which is the first big project that we will be doing. So, why is r&d so important?

Well, the first part of it – research – is a vital stage for any project. We research in order to find inspiration and generate ideas, but also to focus in on the audience: what they want, what they like and dislike, and what the previous audience types were for any examples. These are both extremely important, because without understanding the core ideas, and the audience, an animation could be a complete failure and miss its mark completely. Research is also effective for creating mood boards and budget for production.

 

 

There are two types of research, primary and secondary. Primary research is research you have carried out yourself. So, things like interviews, focus groups, surveys and questionnaires – all done in an effort to obtain information from others by yourself. The data is therefore reliable, but not always easy to get. Creating things from the list above often takes more time and effort, and there are not always volunteers who would like to take part. Secondary research is finding and using information that has previously been researched and is already available. This is probably the most popular type of research – reading books and reviews, looking through the internet, finding images and more. This is often the fastest and easiest way to research into something, but is not always trustworthy, as there are many exaggerated or even fake videos and articles on the web.

All research, however, gives info and data, of which there are also two types. Quantitative data is the quantity and numerical value (statistics, charts, and qualitative data is the quality or state of something and is not numerical (diary accounts, documents, case studies, photos and recordings etc.).

But what about the ‘d’ in r&d? Development is equally important and it is the bulk of a project:

Time management: schedule, swot analysis, bullet journal, blog posts, target settings.

Inspirations: inspirations for the idea, mood boards.

Idea generation: concept art, character design, representation, design justification.

Testing/skills: pre-vics, animatics, skills and development.

Finally, we worked in groups to analyse an example of r&d, so that we knew what sort of thing was expected, which aspects work well and which to avoid. It was interesting to see all of the things I learned about presented together in this format, and I felt really inspired to create something similar, just with more detail and in my blog.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n28z6xT9kwdwvDsSHTQLEda5R5Skm4Ys/view?usp=sharing